The present invention relates to the chilling and consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially vodka.
In recent years, lower-priced and mid-priced vodkas have been losing market share, while premium, superpremium and flavored vodkas are more than making up for the loss with a total increase in annual sales.
Besides using vodka as a mixer in alcoholic beverages, drinking straight vodka has developed wide appeal with the increasing number of high quality products available. As a result, it has become a popular trend and preference to drink chilled shots of vodka. It is generally perceived that when consuming vodka that has been cooled to subfreezing temperatures, it has a softer non-medicinal taste and smoother finish. This preference lead to the development of a commercially available dispensing machine marketed by Stolichnaya Vodka called the Stoli Cold Shot Machine. As a refrigerated unit, it can hold up to eight bottles of vodka and selectively dispense any one at approximately 30xc2x0 F. This enables bars and restaurants to meet consumer demand for chilled shots of vodka.
There are striking and obvious differences between the taste of vodka at average room temperature (70xc2x0 F.) and subfreezing (30xc2x0 F.) temperatures. However, an equally dramatic difference in taste occurs when vodka is further cooled to temperatures of zero (0xc2x0 F.) or below.
Ideally, premium vodka should be kept in a freezer at all times, ready for consumption at zero or subzero temperature. Vodka""s high alcohol content prevents it from freezing, and the liquid becomes surprisingly viscous. When chilled to subzero temperatures, fine vodka is at its proper thick creamy consistency and texture. The subtle flavor remains but with a significantly softer finish, making it easy to consume and enjoy.
Besides being drunk very cold, vodka is customarily gulped down in a single swallow, the liquid being tossed far back in the mouth. A possible reason for this, as claimed by the Russians, is a practical one: if vodka is sipped, one inhales the fumes and the fumes are what cause drunkenness faster than the drink itself.
For those that prefer to drink vodka chilled to subzero temperatures, the only means available is to place a bottle in a freezer and dispense it directly into a shotglass that is typically at room temperature. Under these conditions, vodka contained in the bottle and the shotglass warm rapidly, creating a small window of opportunity to consume vodka at the proper temperature.
It would be desirable to provide a convenient way of chilling an alcoholic beverage such as vodka and then consuming the beverage from a shotglass without the beverage becoming appreciably warmed.
This object is achieved by chilling a pre-dispensed alcoholic beverage and drinking the beverage directly from a shotglass into which it was pre-dispensed and chilled. In particular, a method aspect of the invention comprises a method of chilling and consuming an alcoholic beverage, comprising the steps of:
A) pouring an alcoholic beverage into a shotglass;
B) installing a lid onto the shotglass to form an air-tight seal therewith;
C) inserting the lidded shotglass into a refrigeration compartment to chill the alcoholic beverage therein;
D) removing the lidded shotglass from the refrigeration compartment;
E) removing the lid; and
F) drinking the chilled alcoholic beverage directly from the shotglass.
The invention also pertains to the lidded shotglass per se.
The invention also pertains to an apparatus comprising a container which includes a base and a removable cover for the base. The base and the cover together form an interior space. The base includes pockets disposed in the space. The base and the cover are formed of a thermally insulative material suited for insulating at a temperature at or below 0xc2x0 F. Shotglasses are removably disposed in respective pockets. A removable lid is provided for each shotglass.